


Sock Opera: The Revival

by StygiusCantus



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossover, Demonic Possession, Gen, its basically just sock opera but if steven were there and he got possessed, stan shows up for a single line, steven gets his fuckin body stolen, what do i tag this as
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StygiusCantus/pseuds/StygiusCantus
Summary: The knick-knacks on the shelves started to rattle. Papers flew off of the countertop by a wind from nowhere. The air turned frigid, and even with a jacket on, Steven shivered. The color drained from the rest of the world, leaving it gray and lifeless.Dread welled in Steven’s stomach. Something had answered his call.The jar of eyeballs on the counter suddenly launched off of the counter and shattered, the eyeballs rolling away and leaving trails of liquid--all except one. One single eyeball lifted up in the air, slowly rolling and rolling until its round pupil was replaced with a slit one.“WELL, WELL, WELL! If it isn’t everyone’s favorite Rockstar!”--A retelling of "Sock Opera" as an SU/GF crossover.Based on art from solsticedraws on tumblr!
Comments: 53
Kudos: 278





	1. Act I

Steven Universe had quickly discovered that life in Gravity Falls was weird. And that, strangely, he  _ wasn’t _ the weirdest thing in town.

His road trip had led him to be stuck in the bizarre town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. It was a vastly different experience than Beach City. He was so used to open skies, wide space, and the smell of sea salt that the towering pines, steep mountains, and the feeling of closeness had almost made him feel trapped. That feeling started to fade, though, the more time he spent there. The woods became more comforting, and the mountains became a regular sight.

The pair of twins he had inadvertently begun to care for also helped him settle in.

Steven was at the counter of the Mystery Shack when Mabel Pines suddenly burst through the door, eyes wild. Steven just raised a brow.

“Hey, Mabel--”

“Sorry Steven, can’t talk now!  _ Puppet time!” _ With only that, Mabel raced past Steven and up the stairs. 

Blink. “What.”

Dipper Pines came in next, walking this time, with that old laptop they found tucked under his arm. He didn’t have the energy that his sister had, and his shrugged shoulders and dark expression showed Steven that he was… troubled, to say the least.

“Hey, Dipper.” Steven gave a slight smile, though his eyes held a touch of concern. “Uh… so how’d the laptop thing go?”

Dipper groaned and dragged his hand down his face. “The laptop has a password and Mabel’s blowing me off for another dumb guy!  _ Again! _ ”

Steven’s smile turned sympathetic. “Aw, jeez…” He reached over and patted Dipper on the head. “Maybe I can help you out after my shift instead?”

The anger in Dipper’s eyes was swiftly replaced by surprise. “Wait, really? Thanks!”

\---

The rest of the week passed by without incident. (Well, besides the absurd amounts of craft glitter that got into the carpets, Dipper nearly burning his fingers off with a hot glue gun, and the sock puppets appearing to follow your every move.) Steven split his time between helping Mabel with her puppet show (which was definitely not something he thought he would do this summer, but hey, turns out that sewing’s fun) and reading off eight-letter words for Dipper to try and crack open the laptop’s secrets. Any extra time was either spent at the Mystery Shack’s counter or out on his own. It was nice.

And then he heard commotion outside of the Shack.

“Whoa, whoa! Hey, you just said you were going to help me!

“ _ Dipper! _ This sock crisis just bumped up to code argyle! The laptop can wait!

“Mabel, do you seriously think that your random crush of the week is more important than uncovering the mysteries of this town? You're obsessed!

“ _ I'm _ obsessed? Look at you! You look like a vampire! And not the hot kind!

Steven bit his lip as he listened to the twins argue. Both sides wanted something for themselves… but Mabel  _ did _ promise to help Dipper.

Steven sighed and slumped on the counter. He didn’t exactly know about sibling fights. Sure, he had helped the Pizza twins a couple years ago, but that wasn’t a  _ fight. _ This was both twins valuing something, and while Dipper had already sacrificed a week of his time to Mabel, Mabel didn’t seem intent on returning the favor.

Half of him knew that he should just let them work it out for themselves. It’s what his therapist had said--sometimes, you just have to let people work out their own issues. It wasn’t his place to solve their problems for them.

… Yet, his heart hurt seeing two people he cared about angry and frustrated. He  _ wanted _ to help them!

_ But it’s not my place! _

A long  _ groooooan _ as the warring thoughts rattled around in his brain. “I just wish I didn’t have to feel like this!”

...

The knick-knacks on the shelves started to rattle. Papers flew off of the countertop by a wind from nowhere. The air turned frigid, and even with a jacket on, Steven shivered. The color drained from the rest of the world, leaving it gray and lifeless. 

Dread welled in Steven’s stomach. Something had answered his call. 

The jar of eyeballs on the counter suddenly launched off of the counter and shattered, the eyeballs rolling away and leaving trails of liquid--all except one. One single eyeball lifted up in the air, slowly rolling and rolling until its round pupil was replaced with a slit one.

_ "WELL, WELL, WELL! If it isn’t everyone’s favorite Rockstar!” _

Lightning flashed, and in place of the eyeball was a horribly familiar figure. A one-eyed pyramid with a bowtie and tophat.

“You!” On instinct, bubbles encased Steven’s fists, and his muscles tensed. “What are you doing here?!”

Bill Cipher put up his hands. “Hey, hey, take it easy, Rockstar! Don’t want anything to  _ pop, _ do ya?” On the word ‘pop,’ Bill poked one of Steven’s bubbles, which popped with a loud  _ bang! _ Steven yelped and jumped away, pulling back his other bubbled hand. His now-free hand stung. “I just wanted to offer my  _ help.” _

“You nearly destroyed Mr. Pines’ mind, what could you  _ possibly _ want to ‘help’ with?!”

“Listen kid, I…” Bill’s gaze softened. “I wanted to apologize.”

Steven stopped. “ _ What?” _

“It was just a job, but it still hurt you, right? So I wanted to say that I’m  _ sorry, _ and that I want to help you out! I know exactly how you can help Pine Tree and Shooting Star without having to worry about those old ‘feelings’ of yours!”

“You… do?” Steven shook his head. “No - no, you’re trying to trick me!”

“Aw c’mon, kid, give me a chance!” Bill took off his hat and held it to his chest(?), his gaze almost  _ pleading _ . “Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?”

_ The last time I gave someone a second chance, they fused and tried to kill me. _

But… still. The whole reason that the entire galaxy was saved was because of second chances. Half of his family back home were only his family because of second chances. Even the  _ Diamonds _ changed because they were given the second chance to do so.  _ You don’t have to forgive, _ his therapist had told him.  _ You’re allowed to still be hurt and upset. _

Deep breath.

"... What do you want?”

“I just wanna help!” Bill floated around the Shack, observing the merchandise. “You seem to be in quite the tricky situation! Two friends of yours, fighting over their own selfish desires… humans, am I right?”

Steven stiffened. “I...  _ am _ human.”

“Yeah, so you get it better than anyone, right?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What I  _ mean _ is that you’re the best person to try and fix this little issue!”

“But it’s  _ their _ fight, I can’t just--”

“C’mon, Rockstar, you’ve fixed plenty of things like this before, haven’t you?”

Steven rubbed the back of his neck. “I-I don’t know… This is seriously something that Dipper and Mabel need to figure out on their own.”

“That’s just it, Rockstar! I know the perfect way to handle those two while keeping your consciousness clear!”

“What’s… that?”

“Aw, c’mon, pal!” Bill stuck out his hand, wreathed in blue flame, to Steven. “You just gotta  **trust me.** ”

Steven stared down at Bill’s hand and bit his lip. His instincts were screaming not to, after what Bill did to Mr. Pines. But he was  _ right, _ wasn’t he? That people deserve second chances if they really tried? Even the worst of people?

(A small, but vocal, part of him found the offer  _ very _ appealing. He could help the twins! Without any of this guilt! He wanted to help. He  _ needed _ to help. That’s what he was for, wasn’t it? No, not what he was for. He was trying to stop that line of thinking. But he still  _ wanted _ to help…)

The bubble around Steven’s hand disappeared, and he took Bill’s hand and shook it.

“Okay. Where do we start?”

Bill laughed. “Oh, right! That reminds me! First I gotta do a little…” Suddenly his eye turned red, and his voice boomed around the Shack.  **_“REARRANGING.”_ **

“What?!”

Bill yanked Steven forward, and Steven’s body was alight, burning, ripping, tearing, everything burned and everything  _ hurt _ and--

Steven cried out as he was thrown up into the sky… but he didn’t come down. No, he was floating, and looking down at his own body, which lay in a heap on the floor.

“What--what happened?! What did you do?!” Steven tried to touch his face, but his hands phased straight through. It was like he was astral projecting, but he wasn’t sleeping, was he?

Steven’s body twitched, and slowly pushed itself up.

It opened its eyes: glowing yellow with slitted pupils.

Its lips curved into an ear-to-ear grin.

It laughed and, in Bill’s voice, said, “Sorry Rockstar,  _ show’s over!” _

“You--! _You tricked me!_ _GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!_ ”

“Oh man, I can’t believe you actually fell for that! ‘I’m sorry’--ugh, I felt like throwing up saying that!” Bill giggled as he stumbled around on wobbly legs, body lurching back and forth as he tried to gain his balance. “Man, it’s been so  _ long _ since I’ve inhabited a body!” He tripped forward and slammed his face directly into the cash register before bouncing back up with another laugh. “Pain is  _ hilarious! _ ”

“Stop it! Give it  _ back!” _ Steven flew toward Bill, but only managed to fly straight through him.

Bill laughed again. “Sorry, kid, but you’re in the mindscape now!”

“My - my powers, I-I can astral project, so why can’t I--?”

“Your consciousness is disconnected from your Gem! Without  _ your _ mind in this body, your powers aren’t gonna help ya!” Bill lifted up his shirt and poked at the Pink Diamond Gem. “Who-hoo-hoo, neat!” He tapped on the Gem’s facets and giggled more. “Man, two eyes,  _ and _ a cool rock in your guts? Talk about a premium package! Now what if I--?”

Bill hooked his nails beneath the edge of the Gem and pulled--

“ _ NO!” _

\--but his lower arm was quickly caught in a bubble. “What the--hey, what gives?!” Bill pulled back harder, and the bubble popped. “Alright, guess it stays! I can probably do more stuff with it in, anyway!”

“S-so - if my mind’s not connected to my Gem, then--?”

“ _ Mine is.” _ Bill flexed his fingers and held up a hand. “So, let’s see what this baby can do!”

Bill threw his hands forward, and a pink hexagon flew from his palms to the other side of the Shack, slamming through a wall in a shower of splinters.

(Stan poked his head in before walking upstairs. “Still ignoring this.”)

“Whoo! This thing packs a punch!” He summoned a couple more hexagons and shot them through the walls, giggling the whole while.

“Stop!” Steven floated out in front of Bill, arms waving. “You’re breaking everything!”

“Oh, I’m gonna break a  _ lot _ more than this, kid! Now, where’s Pine Tree? He’s been getting too close to some answers, and I need to…  _ take care of him. _ ”

The door flew open, and a red-faced Dipper stormed into the Shack. “Ugh, I can’t  _ believe _ her! Steven, can you--” Stop. Blink. “Uh… what happened here?”

Bill waved a hand before placing it on Dipper’s shoulder and leading him back outside. “Oh don’t worry about that! Just a little mess-up. You sound pretty upset, though. How about we head out into the woods so you can clear your head?”

“The woods?”

“Dipper,  _ don’t listen to him!” _ But Steven’s cries were unheard. No one could hear him but Bill.

“Yeah, the woods! Y’know, somewhere nice and quiet!”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. I could  _ really _ use some time away from Mabel right now…”

Bill put his arm around Dipper’s shoulders and walked with him through the door. “Alright kid, tell me what’s on that fleshy brain of yours!”

“Uhh… okay?”

“Dipper!  _ NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!” _

He was so stupid. God, he was so  _ stupid! _ Why did Steven ever think that making a deal with  _ Bill _ would be a good idea?! He couldn’t get back into his body and now Dipper was in danger and it was  _ his fault his fault HIS FAULT-- _

Deep breaths. Even if he didn’t have lungs anymore, he needed to take  _ deep breaths. _

This wasn’t the time to fall apart.

Follow Dipper and make sure that Bill doesn’t hurt him. But how? He’ll figure that out. The longer he floated here, the further away they got.

He made this mistake, and now he had to make sure that no one got hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> solsticedraws on tungle made a bill-possessed steven drawing and ppl were discussing how someone should write it and sol herself said that she'd love to see a fic of it and im here to deliver  
> not my best work but the dialogue was rlly fun  
> also it was getting long so we're doing Two Parts(tm)  
> anyway go follow solsticedraws on turgle her art is Rad


	2. Intermission

Z ILHV DRGSRM Z ULIVHG LU GSLIMH

Z GIRYV LU TVNH OVUG GL NLFIM

Z YZIW ZOLMV GL KOZB Z XSLIW

Z PMRTSG DSL HVOWLN ORUGH SVI HDLIW

Z WRZNLMW ZNLMT GSVN, GSV SLOB TIZRO

R HSZOO KFG ZM VMW GL GSRH UZRIB GZOV


	3. Act II

“--she’s  _ always _ obsessing over guys! And she  _ promised  _ me that she would help me!”

Dipper paced back and forth across the grove in the woods, as Steven leaned casually against one of the trees. (Steven had this really weird grin on his face the whole time. Maybe something happened earlier that made him really happy? Maybe it was a text from his girlfriend or something. Dipper didn’t know anything about relationships, so maybe that’s how they worked.) Dipper stomped about, waving his arms in frustration. He had been venting to Steven for the past few minutes, about his argument with Mabel, and the resulting failed password attempts. Too many attempts failed, and the laptop wiped itself clean. All of that hard work, the entire past  _ week, _ was  _ gone. _

“Sounds rough, kid.” Steven just kept  _ grinning _ as he examined his nails. “You’ve given up so much for your sister, right? Like this entire week? What has  _ she _ ever given you in return?”

Dipper paused as Steven’s words settled in him like sand at the bottom of a lake. What  _ had _ Mabel done for him? He spent the whole summer rescuing Mabel, sacrificing his time and energy and desires for her… and what has she given  _ him? _

A part of him said,  _ she’s your sister, you guys would do anything for each other, _ but apparently ‘anything’ didn’t include pigs or puppet shows to Mabel.

Dipper growled in frustration and stamped his foot, now turned away from Steven. “It’s just… ugh, it’s just not  _ fair, _ Steven!”

(Step, step, step.)

“We’ve been dealing with life-threatening supernatural stuff  _ all summer, _ and all she can think about is some  _ dumb guy! _ ”

_ (Step. Step. Step.) _

“The guy’s weird, anyway! He’s obsessed with puppets! And what does Mabel think she’s gonna do if this  _ does _ work, act like she loves puppets for the rest of her life?!”

**_(Step. Step. Step.)_ **

“Does she even  _ care _ that the laptop’s data got wiped because of too many password attempts?! Ugh, maybe there’s  _ some _ way to get that info back, but we’d need to talk to Soos and--”

A shadow loomed over him.

Dipper turned.

Something pink slammed into his body and threw him backwards. Dipper yelped as he hit the ground, dirt and grass clumping around him as he skidded back. Arms and legs burned, and pain shot up his side.

“St--Steven?!” Dipper flipped himself over onto his back, and watched in horror as Steven slowly, slowly approached him again, that  _ grin _ still on his face. Icy fear rushed through his veins. “Wh--what are you doing?!”

“Sorry,  _ Pine Tree _ , but you need to be  _ taken care of! _ ”

Dipper’s stomach dropped.

“P--Pine Tree?!” Only one person called him that. “ _ Bill?!” _

Suddenly Steven’s eyes glowed more yellow, and his pupils grew taller. “Aww, Pine Tree, did ya miss me? Because I missed  **_you._ ** ” Ste--no, Bill,  _ Bill in Steven’s body _ \--fired off a pink hexagon at Dipper. Dipper screamed and dove out of the way; the hexagon smashed through a tree, toppling it.

Bill came closer. “You’ve been getting way too close to major answers, kid, and that means that I need to do some  _ clean-up. _ Big things are coming, and I don’t need you getting in my way! Once I take you out, then I just gotta destroy your journal! So I’m just  _ borrowing _ your old pal’s body to get the job done!”

Another hexagon, and Dipper once again jumped out of its way. “Y-you’re crazy!  _ What did you do to Steven?!” _

“Oh, I didn’t do  _ anything, _ Pine Tree! Rockstar here just  _ reeeeeeally _ love to help people. So much that he would actually make a little deal with me!” Bill cackled, taking another few steps closer to Dipper.

Dipper crawled backwards, trembling, before he was backed against a tree. “St--Steven! Come on, snap out of it! Can you hear me in there?!”

Bill towered over him, and if it was possible, his grin stretched further in sadistic delight.

**_“Steven isn’t here anymore.”_ **

Bill raised his hand, and something pink began to grow in his palm.

Dipper panicked and, on instinct, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in Bill’s face.

_ “Agh--!” _ Bill spat and sputtered before covering his eyes with his arms. “What did you--ugh, it tastes like  _ worms!” _

Dipper scrambled to his feet and ran.

\---

_ “Mabel! MABEL!” _

Mabel was just at the drinking fountain during the intermission when her brother burst into her dressing room, sweaty and shaking. Instantly, concern overtook her expression. That wasn’t Dipper’s usual freak-out sweat. That was ‘running for your life’ type of sweat.

“Dipper, what happened?”

Dipper leaned against the counter, heaving for breath. “It’s - it’s Bill!” 

“Wait, the triangle guy?”

“Y-yeah! He took over Steven’s body and is trying to kill me!”

“ _ What?!  _ Then where’s Steven?! _ ” _

One of the sock puppets rolled off of the back shelf and landed on the floor. The twins glanced at each other before turning their gaze to the sock puppet--it was the puppet of Steven. Slowly, the puppet lifted off the ground and into the air.

Dipper and Mabel latched onto each other and screamed.

“It’s alive!”

“Bill can possess puppets, too?!”

“What--no! Guys, it’s me!” The puppet moved as it spoke, and it spoke with the voice of…

“ _ Steven?!” _

“Yeah, so, turns out I can possess puppets in the mindscape.” Despite Steven’s dry statement, his voice shook. “Dipper, I-I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

Dipper quickly brushed the dirt off of his knees. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, but where’s Bill?”

“I don’t know--he was definitely following you, though! He could be anywhere!”

“We need to get back home, we can use the journal and get you back in your body, and--”

Mabel chuckled nervously. “Ahaha, yeah, so, uh, about that… I kind of used your journal as a prop for the wedding scene without asking you?”

Dipper’s eye twitched. “MABEL!”

“I’m sorry! Look, my cue’s coming up any minute, so can’t this wait until  _ after _ the show?”

“Mabel!” The Steven puppet got up right in her face, causing her to shrink. “This is  _ way _ more serious than just a play! Bill stole my body, he  _ just tried _ to kill Dipper, and if we don’t find a way to stop him,  _ there might not be an ‘after the show!’” _

Mabel’s eyes flickered from the puppets on the counter, to Dipper, to Steven(‘s puppet), before she pulled at her hair. “Ahhhhh,  _ okay! _ Just”--Mabel shoved the puppets into Dipper’s arms--”you two take over for me while I go get the journal!”

\---

The audience cheered and clapped at the ongoing show as Mabel climbed the ladder up into the catwalk. The journal was right where she left it: within the suspended wedding cake. Carefully, she climbed over the rail and clung to it as she reached for the journal. It was just out of reach… if she could just get a little closer--!

“Whaaa--!”

Mabel’s hand slipped from the railing, and she hit the wooden floor of the wedding cake and plummeted towards the ground.

Suddenly the cake stopped, instead swinging back and forth, before it began to lift again.

“Phew…” Mabel sat the book on her lap and flipped through the pages. “C’mon, c’mon, there’s gotta be a way to get Steven’s body back!”   


“Oho,  _ but why would you want to do that?” _

Mabel looked up and gasped.

Steven-- _ Bill _ \--was pulling up the rope, grinning widely down at her.

“Bill-Steven!” Mabel’s eyes narrowed.  _ “Beven.” _

Bill-Steven--Beven?--shushed her, his eyes flicking to Gabe down in the audience. “You wouldn’t want to ruin the show…”

Mabel hesitated, before Beven dropped the cake and caught it again. Mabel screamed and held the journal tight to her chest.

Beven giggled. “It’s  _ slipping! _ How’s about you hand that book over?”

“No way! This is Dipper’s, I would  _ never _ give it away!”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem taking it for your own play, or ditching him when he needed you!”

The words stung. They stung because they were  _ true. _ Would all of this have happened if she had just been true to her word? Would Bill have possessed Steven at all? Dipper stuck to his word, so why didn’t Mabel stick to hers? Suddenly her heart felt heavier than lead. Dipper must have been so  _ hurt _ by what she did. She was so self-absorbed, so  _ selfish, _ that she abandoned her brother when he needed him. Now everyone else was suffering. Was this all her fault?

“So come to your senses!” Beven’s smile pulled into a deep bone-chilling frown. “Give me the book or your play is ruined!”

Mabel wasn’t even thinking as she slowly handed the book over to Beven. 

“There it is! I mean, who would sacrifice everything they worked for just for their  _ dumb sibling?” _

Mabel's eyes widened. “ _ Dipper would.” _

She pulled back hard, bringing Beven onto the cake with her, and tried to pry the journal from his hands. The cake spun as it fell onto the stage below, breaking apart and knocking Mabel and Beven to the floor. The two wrestled for the book, unrelenting. 

“Get out of my best friend, you evil triangle!”

(From the audience, Grunkle Stan pulled out a camera. “Children fighting! I can sell this!”)

“Mabel!” Dipper, just out of reach of the wreckage, tossed the puppets aside and tackled Beven, trying to pin his arms back.

“Guys!” Steven’s disembodied voice was followed by a tugging sensation on Mabel’s arms. “Get back! He’s going to hurt you!”

Pink spread along the mask of Beven’s face, spilling to his face, arms, legs. Effortlessly he pushed the twins off of him, and Dipper and Mabel crashed into the remains of the stage.

“ _ DIPPER! MABEL!” _ The Steven puppet floated over to them. “Are you guys okay?!”

Mabel groaned, sitting up, and Dipper brushed some splinters from his hair. “Y-yeah, we’re okay…” She gasped. “The journal! Where--?”

Suddenly Beven was laughing, and the three turned to see that he was  _ glowing. _ He was that bright pink that Mabel had only seen a few times with Steven, when he was too angry or scared. Beven held the journal up triumphantly over his head.

“ _ FINALLY! _ Now I can--!”

Beven’s body very suddenly  _ bloated, _ as though filled with air, causing him to drop the journal. “Wh--what’s--?” Though his body returned to normal, his face swelled up to twice as big as his head. Back to normal. “What’s happening to me?! What’s with this body?!” Beven clutched at his chest, doubling over. “Wh--I can’t breathe! These stupid air sacs aren’t working!” He weakly punched himself in the chest before his torso swelled again, and Beven stumbled. "Why can't I feel my arms? Who took out all of the nerves from these useless meat sticks?!"  


Dipper and Mabel watched on in slack-jawed horror. The audience was not as paralyzed, though, and screams filled the theater as they scrambled to escape.

Dipper pointed a shaking finger at Beven. “Wh-what’s happening to him?”

Steven gasped. “My body…!”

“You mean it  _ normally _ does that?”

“Not  _ normally, _ no, it hasn’t been that bad in months, but when I got really panicked before, my body would start acting up like this!” Mabel could hear the grin in Steven’s voice. “It may be Bill’s mind in there, but that’s still  _ my _ body!”

Beven writhed on stage, various parts of his body bloating at random intervals as adrenaline filled his blood. He tried to reach for the lost journal, but Mabel ran out and snatched it from him with a teasing “ _ yoink!” _

“Wh-why can’t I control this flesh suit?! Why is it doing this?!” Beven grabbed at his throat, only for his face to swell again. “Feeling… too dizzy…! Can’t breathe…! C-can’t… stand up…!”

Beven wobbled and fell to a knee, panting hard, before finally he collapsed to the ground. The pink washed away from his skin.

Mabel thought she heard Bill’s voice from somewhere--” _ Hey whoa whoa hey--!” _ but she wasn’t sure. Steven’s body groaned, and he opened up his eyes. White sclera and round pupils.

“Steven!” The twins rushed over to him as he slowly sat up. 

Steven rubbed the back of his neck and managed a sheepish smile. “H-hey, guys. Nice to see you again. You okay?”

Dipper opened his mouth to respond, but his sentence was cut off by echoey laughter. They turned to the box of fireworks to see the Steven puppet crawling on top.

“This isn’t the last you’ll hear of me!” Bill’s voice filled the now-empty theater. “Big things are coming!  _ You can’t stop me!” _

Mabel glanced at Gabe’s empty seat, sighed, and pulled out the pyrotechnics switch. “Well… the play was a bust. But at least we can still use this!”

She pressed the switch, and the box of fireworks exploded into smoke and colors. Rockets whizzed by, smoke coiled in the air, red and pinks and blues flashed in the sky. When the smoke cleared, the twins and Steven were hidden in a bubble, and Steven lowered it once nothing else was blowing up. The stage was a wreck, with ruined sets, burning puppets, and a downed catwalk.

Steven let out a heavy sigh. “Well… at least  _ that’s _ over.” His sheepish gaze set on the ground. “I-I’m really sorry about your play, Mabel…”

“Well… one of the puppets survived.” Mabel reached into her pocket and pulled out the sock puppet of herself. “And she has something she’d like to say to you two.” She held out the puppet to them. “I”m sorry, Dipper, Steven. I spent the whole week obsessing over some dumb guy, but the dumb guys I  _ should have _ cared about? Were you!”

Mabel lightly bapped their faces, causing them to giggle. She handed the journal back over to Dipper, who hugged it close.

Steven pushed his ratty hair back, suddenly feeling the aches and pains from Bill’s rampage in his body. “... Let’s go home, guys.”

\---

The door opened to Steven’s room, and he looked up from his spot on the bed to see Dipper and Mabel poking their heads in.

Steven gave them a tired smile. “Oh, hey guys. What’s up?”

Mabel stepped into the room, holding up a plate of pasta. “Um… you didn’t come down to dinner, so we brought it up here!”

Blink. “Wait, dinnertime already?” Steven glanced at his phone to see that at least two whole hours had passed since they got back from the theater. “Oh, jeez… I didn’t even realize it. Sorry, I think I just… spaced out a bit.” His smile turned a touch brighter. “Thanks, you guys.”

The twins hopped up onto the bed, and Steen gratefully took the plate from Mabel. He stared at it a moment, before sighing.

“I’m… sorry, you guys.”

Dipper tilted his head. “What’re you sorry for?”

“The whole thing with Bill. He… he tricked me, he said that I could  _ help _ you guys when you were fighting, but… That’s not something I should’ve gotten involved in. And  _ wanting _ to just led to… that.”

Mabel sighed as well, flopping on the bed. “I’m sorry to you guys, too. I was being so  _ selfish _ all week, and if I wasn’t, then we wouldn’t have fought, and Steven wouldn’t have gotten possessed by Bill!”

Dipper also flopped ungracefully on the bed. “I’m sorry, too! I was obsessing over the laptop stuff and got angry.”

Steven carefully put the pasta on the bedside table before flopping on the bed to join the twins. “I think we all messed up today.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“So…” Steven bit the inside of his cheek. “... Are we okay?”

Mabel smiled and rolled over to hug Steven. “We’re okay.”

Steven grinned and reached over to pull Dipper into the hug. “What about you, Dipper?”

Dipper groaned dramatically. “Fiiine, I guess.” He wasn’t very good at hiding his smile, though, and Steven scooped up the twins into a warm hug.

They all needed it after today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i completely forgot how to write halfway through this  
> but that was a fun little excursion nonetheless  
> thank you for reading! i really appreciate anyone to took the time to read and/or comment, it really means a lot to me <3


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